Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 04 May 2024 at 08:03
Your workplace should be somewhere you feel safe and comfortable. You should feel confident enough to be yourself and be able to raise any issues should they arise.
Over the past year, we have repeatedly said that we will not tolerate bullying and harassment of any kind within the Trust, and this includes the inappropriate use of social media.
Our Social Media Policy exists to ensure that, as NHS staff, we all use these channels appropriately. We must make sure that the way any of us behaves on social media does not undermine our colleagues or impact their role, their feelings of safety and dignity, their reputation or that of the organisation.
Unfortunately, we have recently been made aware of several WhatsApp Groups that have been set up by members of staff to discuss colleagues, their professionalism and their conduct. This is wholly inappropriate and must cease immediately. The reports we have received are being investigated as claims of bullying and harassment.
It is important to understand that comments, posts, and messages on social media platforms can amount to harassment or bullying even if that is not how they were originally intended. We will not tolerate sexual harassment, bullying and harassment, harassment because of a protected characteristic, or victimisation at this Trust. Any member of staff found to be using social media inappropriately, will be subject to disciplinary action and managed in lined with the Trust’s disciplinary policy, up to and including dismissal.
If you feel uncomfortable, or believe you are being bullied or harassed because of content that has been shared with you directly, as part of a private group (WhatsApp, Facebook) you are part of, or on a colleague’s social media feed, you can act.
Take a screenshot of the content / conversation, remove yourself from the group / block the account poster and report your concerns to a senior manager. Should you feel unable to report to the senior manager, contact the Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardian on 07729 108696. Alternatively, reporting the incident to the police or to the social media site is also an option.
We will not tolerate any member of staff being harassed, bullied, victimised, or intimidated by colleagues’ posts on social media. We want to make EEAST the best place to work for everyone and will continue to drive out poor behaviour wherever we see it, whether that is face to face or on social media.